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US Firm Keen to Buy Iran's PVC Products

A prominent US company has called on Iran for purchasing petrochemical products, managing director of Abadan Petrochemical Company announced on Tuesday.
Without naming the American company since negotiations are underway, Masoud Jebraeili said the foreign company seeks Iranian petrochemicals via its European division and recently held talks with the Iranian side, IRNA reported.
Located in the oil-rich city of Abadan in Khuzestan Province, APC was established in the 1960s near Abadan Refinery.
Because of concerns over US penalties threatening direct cooperation with Iran, some American companies are linking up with Iran through their overseas divisions.
“The company, which is interested in Iranian PVC [polyvinyl chloride] products, intends to hold serious negotiations with Iran in the near future,” he added. Polyvinyl chloride is the third most widely produced synthetic plastic polymer, after polyethylene and polypropylene.
According to the official, following the lifting of international sanctions against Iran’s key sectors, hurdles obstructing cooperation with international corporations have been removed and the Persian Gulf country has conducted talks with many European and Asian companies related to export, finance and technology transfer.
“There is an intense rivalry between regional petrochemical producers to gain a bigger market share,” he said, adding that the key to Iranian companies’ success is to adopt cutting-edge technology. Jebraeili noted that some companies from Spain, Italy and India have made requests to buy products from Abadan Petrochemical Company. He also claimed that the company is in talks with German, Italian and Spanish firms to attract investment which, in the absence of hurdles, will be realized in 2017.
Prior to the imposition of sanctions, Iranian petrochemicals were destined to Europe and the US, but Iran lost the markets when western countries tightened restrictions.
Marzieh Shahdaei, managing director of National Petrochemical Company, earlier said the company is in talks with two American manufacturers interested in selling their equipment to Iran. Shahdaei said the American companies are seeking to set up representative offices in the country.
Iran is developing 55 major petrochemical projects, with 10 production units expected to go on stream by March 2017 and add at least 7 million tons to the annual output.
With a nominal production capacity of 60 million tons, Iran's petrochemical output reached 44 million tons in the last Iranian year (ended March 19, 2016).